Welcome to FT!

First off..in the life of chasing the miles it is very important to know what booking class you are in especially when you are flying with a partner like UA.
click here to find out which booking codes earn 100% miles and which ones earn only partial mileage. If you want to find fares easily and also find out the booking code use the ITA search tool. This is a very popular resource on flyertalk. For future reference on UA booking codes E H M Q U V earn 100% on MM. Also, to maximize mileage it is popular to do multiple connections. Instead of flying NY-SF direct go NY-Chicago-Seattle-SF for miles. Alot of times for the same price

Hope this helps..good luck